Same deal here, regarding less manicured shots -- My rep wants me to put a new lifestyle section on my website with looser, less-planned, less-perfected shots, since everything these days is following that Instagram style. Just not sure if it's a good idea to follow trends. By the time I've shot and finished new work, and made that gallery section a known presence in the marketplace, I might look like just another photographer shooting that kind of imagery. A while back, people wanted the Jim Fiscus look, then the Jill Greenberg look, then the Erik Almas look ... et cetera. The danger with chasing every trend is, you're always a bit behind the curve, and and you're never doing what's in your heart. (cooter -- I'm not implying you're doing this; I'm just voicing my thoughts I've had on the matter.)

Same deal here, regarding less manicured shots -- My rep wants me to put a new lifestyle section on my website with looser, less-planned, less-perfected shots, since everything these days is following that Instagram style. Just not sure if it's a good idea to follow trends. By the time I've shot and finished new work, and made that gallery section a known presence in the marketplace, I might look like just another photographer shooting that kind of imagery. A while back, people wanted the Jim Fiscus look, then the Jill Greenberg look, then the Erik Almas look ... et cetera. The danger with chasing every trend is, you're always a bit behind the curve, and and you're never doing what's in your heart. (cooter -- I'm not implying you're doing this; I'm just voicing my thoughts I've had on the matter.)

ethan

Naw I get it. Every agent wants you to broaden your repretioire, but hey they sell, they get use to what they see and kind of forget that not everybody they show is as bored with it as they are and I can elaborate on this, but I'd get in trouble.

Anyway, I did a video that was shot with stills and a really "real" look a while back, it still pulls work and well . . . a gigs a gig man.

Naw I get it. Every agent wants you to broaden your repretioire, but hey they sell, they get use to what they see and kind of forget that not everybody they show is as bored with it as they are and I can elaborate on this, but I'd get in trouble.

Anyway, I did a video that was shot with stills and a really "real" look a while back, it still pulls work and well . . . a gigs a gig man.

Not to go of topic, but I really resist being put in a category like a brand of soap. I dunno, I find most of it is just silly.

When we shot lingerie/inner-wear (what a strange name) we shot for the 4 largest companies in the world and two we're completely positive we only shot men, for the other two it was women.

Silly, but you just roll with it.

Personally if I just had to shoot one thing, either motion or still I'd go crazy. It just seems boring and after a while you just can't get out of it.

After all still photography is just subject, light and background. Always is and shooting "real" (what the heck is real?) or manufactured it's all kind of the same.

Most people will disagree, but hey, that doesn't matter. It matters if you work.

The only thing I don't want to do is subjects that don't breath. I just fall asleep.

IMO

BC

Holy moly -- that's a lot of stills. Nice video.

A gig's a gig, indeed. I had a discussion with my lady about all this, and we came to the same conclusion.

About being put in a category -- I hear you, but in my experience, agencies often want to know what to hire me for. I'm not at the level you're at in the industry, and so far it seems like it's been in my interest to specialize a bit more. If it were just up to me, I'd be shooting a greater variety of things. I love it all -- portraits, conceptual productions, moody series, quirky documentary work from traveling, spontaneous moments, film-noir series, urban landscapes, etc. Yes, stills can start feeling like just subject-light-background, but I'm still having a good time taking my conceptual / produced shoots to the next level. Sometimes I fear I might be chasing a part of the ad world that's already gone, but I'm maintaining faith that there's still a need for that kind of work.

Recent personal / portfolio series. The first one is coming out in Workbook in the next week or two. It's a single capture, H3DII-39, HC 50mm lens.

The shoot was a ton of fun, but it's also hell shooting that close to the tide. Sand gets in everything. The water occasionally comes much higher than you expect, potentially drenching gear. Whether the tide is rising or receding, you're constantly moving the talent and lights with it.

Naw. Dallas, regardless of perception would much rather be picked up and moved to the east cost. Dallas is corporate money, Bentleys and Armani, the 25 year olds eat fusion and are foodies, well most of them.

There's still some Texas left in the area, if you go to Ft. Worth, but most of that is for tourists that still think we all ride horse and shoot on sight.

The name of this bar sounds politically incorrect, but for a long, long time Dallas lived under the stigma of that awful day and I think just grew tired of it

I've never heard a Dallasite mention it, but the national and international news mentions that time as if it were yesterday.

Anyway, the patrons of this bar just wanna have fun, sit out in the gravel lot, listen to music, get a little loaded, go home with a boy/girl and not worry about life.

To them the name Lee Harvey has about as much impact as saying John Wilkes Booth. Both tragic, both way in the past.

But no you won't get shot with a gun. There is more guns per capita in LA than Dallas, though perception and reality are way different animals.

Actually the most liberal county in American is the most caucasian centric, Marin County, North of San Francisco. Dallas proper has more percentage of ethnic's groups than most American Cities, so . . .

Once again, perception and reality.

Love this shot, love this model. Kathryn is not anorexic, or afraid to eat a meal, she's just a good hard working damn pretty woman.

She has a wonderful symmetrical body. I love the 3 ribs! One of the best studies in gray tones I've seen.

Why did it take so long to bring to light?

Thanks. Simply not enough time to process images. I still have many from even 2002.A lot of retouching time is spent on the background behind the model. Paper is never as smooth as I like it to be.Even a fresh roll of paper quickly develops some bumps on the surface. I suppose due to humidity, although it is very dry in my studio.I was thinking of trying vinul, not sure if it is as matte as the paper, but even then it would get quickly stretched under the model's weight... well unless she is levitating:)

Thanks. Simply not enough time to process images. I still have many from even 2002.A lot of retouching time is spent on the background behind the model. Paper is never as smooth as I like it to be.Even a fresh roll of paper quickly develops some bumps on the surface. I suppose due to humidity, although it is very dry in my studio.I was thinking of trying vinul, not sure if it is as matte as the paper, but even then it would get quickly stretched under the model's weight... well unless she is levitating:)

I appreciate the effort it takes to render a smooth bkg. when working with seamless. I've found that increasing the distance of the subject in relationship to the background helps. But of course, I've only got about 20 feet lengthwise, so that severely limits what I am able to shoot. I'm fanatical about smooth bkgs. for my doggie portraits http://www.topdogimaging.net/dog-photos.html. I am stunned by how much the price of seamless has gone up over the past few years. Nothing turns me off more than seeing ripply backgrounds.

By the way, I love the image. You really have an incredible knack for taking interesting minimalist photos. I know how much perfection it takes to pull it off.